President, University of Washington

Ana Mari Cauce, the 33rd president of the University of Washington, will share some of the exciting work happening at the University as well as her vision for the University over the coming years.

As Washington’s largest public research university, the UW’s impact is felt throughout our state and President Cauce will be discussing some of the ways that the UW delivers on its public mission to serve students and families, advance scientific knowledge and discovery, foster economic growth and support innovation.

She will also discuss some of the challenges the UW faces and share how the UW is working to expand access to education and ensure that a public college degree is affordable and achievable for every Washington student.

Foldscopes in Asia with the Help of Rotary #8

About three years ago, Dorsett was smitten by an idea he saw on a TED talk. Stanford’s Manu Prakash was discussing what he calls a Foldscope, an origami-based paper microscope that cost less than a dollar to manufacture. Just over a year ago Foldscopes became available and Dorsett purchased a hundred to take along to Laos and Thailand, with the idea of planting the seeds of science among students who otherwise would have little access to science education and microscopes.

Come learn about Foldscopes and how Tacoma’s Johnny Appleseed of Microbiology is planting seeds in the minds of students in the mountains and rural communities of Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia.

Symphony Tacoma

Symphony Tacoma’s Maestra Sarah Ioannides will discuss balancing her multifaceted career with family time and some of her recent projects, including Symphony Tacoma’s current and upcoming seasons.

Described by the New York Times as a conductor with “unquestionable strength and authority” and as a conductor with “magic,” Sarah’s dynamic presence on the podium has won praise from audience and critics around the world. Now in her fifth season as Music Director of Symphony Tacoma, Sarah is listed as one of the top 20 female conductors worldwide by Lebrecht’s Woman Conductors: The Power List. With guest engagements spanning six continents, she has conducted orchestras including the Cincinnati Symphony, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Nationale de Lyon, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Flemish Radio Orchestra, Nordic Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, New World Symphony, and many more. A zealous supporter of living composers, Sarah has commissioned numerous scores and art films for live orchestral multimedia performances and conducted over 60 world and US premieres. Her projects have received Artwork grants from National Endowment of the Arts.

Cold Cases: Michella Welch and Jennifer Bastain

Tacoma Police Department Public Information Officer Loretta Cool will give a presentation on the investigations of the Michella Welch and Jennifer Bastian homicides. The presentation will cover the initial discovery of the crimes, the timeline covering the 30-year investigation and the new techniques used to identify the men believed to have committed the crimes.

Civility In Polarized Times

Learn the key tools on how to engage in civil dialog when faced with disagreements and receive information on The Center’s work to make this a reality in our community.

Maralise, and her husband Julio (former Rotary 8 member), chose to “retire” in Tacoma because 20 years ago Tacoma was internationally known for successful community response to violence. Since 2007, Maralise has brought her academic interests of conflict resolution, international relations, anthropology, and law to her work as the Executive Director of the Center for Dialog & Resolution. She shares her enthusiasm for lifelong learning and her curiosity about what motivates each of us to help make our community a better place. Her background with Julio at the United Nations University for Peace Conflict Resolution Program and the years of work in violent settings, brings an optimistic approach that encourages us all to be better!

Founder and CEO of Snopes.com

Tacoma resident David Mikkelson is the founder and CEO of Snopes.com, the oldest and most respected fact-checking site online. In his visit to Tacoma Rotary Club #8, he will speak about the company he founded and his daily work fighting "fake news." Mikkelson founded the site in 1994 and today the site receives over 20 million unique monthly visitors. He speaks worldwide about combating “fake news” and the rise of the digital age and its impact on investigative journalism and is excited to bring this conversation to his own community. Managing everything from researching and writing articles about urban legends to overseeing the site’s technical infrastructure, David made Snopes.com the go-to place for Internet users to query the veracity of anything questionable they encountered online. www.davidmikkelson.com

PEACE QUEEN TALKS

Melannie recently returned from a 10-day adventure in Norway representing the South Sound as the Greater Tacoma Peace Prize winner. She will chat with us about her experiences shooting a television documentary of her adventures and attending the Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies.

Advocates for Immigrants in Detention

Dorothy is retired from government service and is currently a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Encorps program working social justice issues. She began volunteering with AIDNW in 2017 as part of a grad school project and remains committed to supporting the legal immigrants who are released from the NW Detention Center.

Shauna is a stormwater engineer and has worked for the City of Tacoma Environmental Services Department since 2002. She is the mother of three boys ages 5, 8 and 10, and recently became interested in volunteering for AIDNW when she learned about the Northwest Immigrant Detention Center operating down the street from her office at the Center for Urban Waters.

RAIN

David L Hirschberg is an Affiliate Professor and Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Urban Waters. He also has appointments in School of Engineering and School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, at the University of Washington, Tacoma (UWT). He is a Science and Technology advisor supporting the Joint Program Executive Office and Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC, US Army RDECOM). At ECBC, Dr. Hirschberg has been working with ECBC leadership to develop long term research programs in biosecurity that leverage technologies being developed in the commercial sector. At UWT, Dr. Hirschberg trains students in critical thinking and to foster careers in biotechnology. He founded and directs the RAIN Incubator, an entity focused on exposing students, colleagues and community members to molecular tools for biomarker discovery in environmental surveillance and medical diagnostics. Dr. Hirschberg’s current projects center on developing accessible technologies that can rapidly detect microbial threats, and on assessing and optimizing devices for commercial, community and military applications.

Dr. Hirschberg earned his BS degree in Cell Biology from Washington State University, and MS and PhD degrees in Neuroimmunology from the Weizmann Institute of Science, in Israel. He completed his postdoctoral training at Stanford University and is the founder and board member of several biotechnology companies focused on biomarker discovery and measurement. He was part of a collaborative multidisciplinary research group in industry for several years before returning to Stanford to form the Human Immune Monitoring Center, a core facility dedicated to facilitating collaborations in clinical research and development between academia and industry. He was invited to develop a similar core at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University where, as Chief Technology Officer and Assistant Professor of Clinical Pathology, he developed and adapted technology for the rapid identification and characterization of pathogens.